Unexpected News
by aynat
Summary: NO LONGER UPDATED
1. The News

**Title:** Unexpected News  
**Author:** Tanya Long (WyleFan)  
**E-mail:** bulletproof@zapo.net  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Spoilers:** Some  
**Summary:** Luke gets some unexpected news, and looks to Lorelai for help/advice. L/L  
**Authors Note:** Sorry this is so short... watch for the follow-up chapters, they'll be longer!  
**Copyright Info:** I don't own most of these characters... but that's not to say I wouldn't like to! Please don't sue... no money is being made by anyone other than fanfiction.net thanx to the REALLY ANNOYING banners!

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Feel free to flame if you feel necessary. Any criticism is appreciated.

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* * *

"Luke, what do you think about Star Wars?" Lorelai Gilmore asked as soon as she opened the door to Luke's Diner.  
"Way too hyped up, no good movie - why?" Luke replied as he poured a cup of coffee for a customer.  
"Well, Rory and I were thinking of going to the new one in this weekend, and thought you might like to join us," she told him as she sat down.  
He instantly poured her a cup of coffee without waiting for her order and shook his head. "No thanks... I don't think I could stand that for three hours!"  
Lorelai laughed. "Alright, just thought I'd ask."  
"So anyways, where's Rory this morning?" Luke asked.  
"With Dean," Lorelai informed him. "Today is another of their 'monthiverseries.'"  
"Ah, I see," Luke said with a slight laugh as he went over to another customer who was asking for coffee.

Lorelai was just finishing up her breakfast when a middle-aged man dressed in a suit and tie came into the diner. She couldn't help but wonder what he was doing in Stars Hollow as he approached the counter.  
"Excuse me," he said to Luke's back. "I'm looking for Luke Danes."  
Luke turned around. "That's me."  
"Mr. Danes, I'm Joshua Reed," the man told him.  
"Well Mr. Reed, what can I do for you?" Luke asked.  
"I'm sorry to be the one to inform you of this, but Jacelyn Hanson has passed away," Joshua told him.  
Luke let out a long breath. "Now there's a name I haven't heard in a while."  
"Who is she?" Lorelai interrupted.  
"An old girlfriend," Luke told her before turning back to Joshua. "What does this have to do with me though? I haven't seen her in over fifteen years."  
Joshua stared at him for a moment. "Mr. Danes, I'm here because Cassidy is barely sixteen, so...."  
Luke interrupted. "Who's Cassidy?"  
Joshua was silent for a moment. "You mean, you don't know?"  
Luke looked at the man in front of him curiously, and shrugged. "Obviously not. What should I know?"  
"Mr. Danes... Cassidy Hanson is Jacelyn Hanson's daughter," Joshua told him.  
Luke sighed. "Look, I'm very sorry Jacelyn died... but again, what does this have to do with me?"  
"Well, Mr. Danes, Cassidy Hanson is your daughter."

_Copyright ©2002_


	2. It Sinks In

Lorelai laughed. "I'm sorry Mr...."  
"Reed." Joshua told her.  
"Mr. Reed, but Luke can not be this girl's father," she told him.  
"I'm sorry if this is a problem for you... but your husband is...."  
"Husband?" Luke interrupted. "I'm not...."  
"We're not...." Lorelai began.  
"She's not my wife," Luke finally told him.  
"Look, I don't care who she is," Joshua told him. "I'm here to inform you that you're being given custody of your daughter."  
"It's not possible... Jacelyn would have told me if I had a daughter," Luke told him.  
"Obviously she wouldn't," Joshua told him. "Because she didn't."  
Luke shook his head. "What makes you think I'm the father?"  
"Cassidy's birth certificate has you down as the father," Joshua told him.  
"Well, that doesn't mean anything," Lorelai interrupted, again. "You can put whatever name you want there, that's no prove."  
Joshua sighed and looked at Luke. "Would you be willing to take a paternity test? If for nothing else, to prove you're not the father?"  
"Yes," Luke told him. "I'd like to get this thing cleared up as soon as possible. Can we go now?"  
"If you like," Joshua told him.  
Luke jumped up on the counter. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said in a loud voice. "I'm sorry, but something has come up and the diner is closing for the rest of the day. Your food and drinks are on the house, but you all must leave - NOW!"  
As everyone stood and left, mumbling curses and such under their breath, Lorelai went over to Luke.  
"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked.  
He shook his head. "No reason to. I'll just go get this cleared up, no big deal."  
"OK," she told him. "Let me know how it goes."  
Luke nodded as she left the diner.

"So, what was Luke's reaction when he said that?" Rory asked. They were eating take-out Chinese food for dinner, while Lorelai filled her in on what had happened at the diner that morning.  
Lorelai laughed. "What do you think it was? He knows he's not the father."  
Rory shook her head. "Why would this Jacelyn person put his name down as the father if she didn't believe it was true?"  
Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know, but come on... Luke a father?"  
"He'd make a great dad," Rory told her.  
"Yes, he would... but I just can't picture him a father," Lorelai told her daughter.  
"I can," Rory said under her breath.  
"What?" Lorelai asked.  
"I said I guess you're right," Rory said.  
Lorelai began to make a comment back when there was a knock at the door. She stood and walked through the hallway and opened the door.  
"Luke, how did every..." Lorelai began, but stopped when she saw the look on his face.  
The two of them just stood there. Luke didn't want to say it... and Lorelai knew better than to ask.   
After a bit he looked at her and shrugged. "I'm her father, Lorelai... she's my daughter."  
"Oh Luke... I'm sorry," Lorelai told him.  
He shook his head. "Sixteen years... she's sixteen years-old... how could I have missed out on sixteen years?"  
Lorelai didn't know what to say so she just stepped back and let him come in.  
"She's coming here tomorrow... tomorrow! I... I don't think I can do this Lorelai," Luke said as he walked into the kitchen.  
"Do what?" Rory asked, looking up from the book she was reading at the kitchen table.  
"Rory, can you excuse us for a while?" Lorelai asked.  
"Sure, I've got homework anyways," Rory told her, and went to her room.  
"Luke," Lorelai said after Rory had shut her door. "You don't have to do anything... it's entirely up to you."  
"I know that Lorelai!" Luke exclaimed. "But what am I supposed to do? Phone up that Reed guy and tell him I don't want to help?"  
"Well...." Lorelai started.  
"Look... I may not have been in this girl's life for sixteen years... but that wasn't by choice!" Luke told her.  
"OK, so think back to sixteen years ago... if Jacelyn had told you, would you have been there?" Lorelai asked.  
Luke sighed as he sat down and put his head in his hands. "I don't know Lorelai... I don't know. But I wasn't given the choice, was I?"  
"No, you weren't, and that wasn't fair, I'll admit it," she told him. "But you can't change that... now you've just got to make the decision if you want to be there now."  
Luke shook his head. "That's a pretty big decision."  
Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, it is. And unfortunately, you don't have long to make it."  
Luke looked up at her from where he was sitting. "You know what? I don't have a choice here... she's my daughter... and she has no where else to go."  
"She needs me right now, I have to be there for her," Luke finished.  
"Luke, do what you think is the right thing to do," Lorelai told him.  
Luke stood up. "Her plane gets into Hartford at noon tomorrow, and I'm going to be there."  
"OK," Lorelai said.  
Luke began towards the door, then turned back and looked at Lorelai. "Listen, I'm... I'm going to need your help in this. I don't think I can do this on my own."  
Lorelai nodded. "Luke, I'll always be here when you need me."

_Copyright ©2002_


	3. Flight Delayed

Luke let out a deep breath as he stared up at the screen in front of him. It was 12:45, and Cassidy's plane still hadn't arrived.  
"Excuse me," Luke said as he approached the counter. "Can you tell me when the twelve o'clock flight from Chicago will be in?"  
"It's been delayed," a middle-aged woman behind the counter told him without looking up.  
"I know it's been delayed," Luke told her. "What I'd like to know is, for how long?"  
"It shouldn't be much longer sir," the woman said in a tone that told Luke the conversation was over. Luke went and sat back down.

After about fifteen minutes he heard the announcement. "Now arriving, flight 615 from Chicago Illinois."  
Luke let out another deep breath as he stood and walked over to the gate the passengers from the flight would be walking through in only moments.  
Even though Joshua had told him what Cassidy would be wearing, he couldn't help but worry that he wouldn't know which one she was. But when the passenger's began to come out, there's was no doubt when he saw her... she looked just like her mother had.  
Luke walked over to her. As he approached he realized she had Jacelyn's hair and lips, but defiantly his eyes.  
"Cassidy?" Luke asked in a barely audible whisper. The young girl nodded.  
"I'm Luke," he went on. "Um... your, uh....."  
"Father," Cassidy said, finishing his sentence. "I know."  
Luke sighed. "OK. Well, welcome to Connecticut."  
"Thanks," Cassidy said quietly.  
"So... uh... what do you..." Luke began, but Cassidy interrupted.  
"Listen, _Luke_, I know this is weird. I don't expect you to try to be fatherly... or even a friend. I wouldn't have come here if I had anywhere else to go."  
Luke looked down at her and sighed. "Well look here _Cassidy_, you're here because you don't have anywhere else to go. You have just met me, and don't know anything about me... so let me fill you in. I live in a small town, I own a diner there. I'm not the most successful man, but I get by. Most importantly though, I'm a good guy... a guy I think you might like if you just let yourself get to know me!"  
"Well let me tell you what I'm like," Cassidy told him. "I'm from a big city, and can't see myself settling down in a small town. I grew up with only my mother there. Never had many friends. I've never even had a boyfriend, and I've never had a father figure in my life!"  
"I know," Luke told her. "Believe me, I know that. The last twenty-four hours have been the craziest of my life. All of a sudden I have a daughter, and she's sixteen."  
Cassidy laughed. "Yeah, well, in the last twenty-four hours I've learned I had been lied to all my life. Mom always told me my father was dead."  
"She what?" Luke asked, nearly freezing in place. "She told you I was dead?"  
Cassidy nodded. "Growing up, I began to think she might be lying, but I always figured if she was lying, my father must have been some guy who up and left when he found out about me, so I never asked her."  
Luke shook his head. "Cassidy, sixteen years ago I was... different. Baseball was my life... and I always told your mother I didn't want to settle down."  
"But," he went on. "I would have been there. Well... I can't say for sure, looking back at who I was sixteen years ago, but I don't think I would have let sixteen years have gone by!"  
Cassidy laughed. "Yeah, well, nothing you can do about it now."  
"That's not true," Luke told her. "Look, I can't make up for the past sixteen years, it's true. But you're here now, and if you'll let me, I'd like to be there for you when, and if you ever need me."  
Cassidy shrugged. "It's just too weird right now."  
Luke nodded. "I don't expect us to become the best of friends over night or anything," he told her. "Anyways, why don't we just get going?"  
"That sounds like a good idea."

_Copyright ©2002_


	4. Go Cubs!

**Author's Note:** If you're a Toronto Blue Jays fan... I'm sorry (In more ways than one!)  
If you're a Toronto Blue Jay... what the hell are you doing reading a Gilmore Girls fanfic?   
Go outside and get some practice!  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Toronto Blue Jays... nor do I wish to. I also do not own the Chicago Cubs... or the Atlanta Braves... but I'll take either team over the Blue Jays!

* * *

"What do you mean you have a daughter?" Jess asked. He'd just returned home from a trip to New York, and Luke was filling him in on the events of the past couple days.  
"I mean, I have a daughter," Luke told him.  
"But... how...," Jess started, but Luke interrupted.  
"Jess, please tell me I don't have to give you the talk on the birds and the bees... cause I don't think I could!"  
Jess laughed. "All I'm saying is... how could you be a father for sixteen years, and not know?"  
Luke sat down, shaking his head. "Jacelyn, her mother... she just didn't tell me."  
"Why?" Jess asked. He knew he should probably stop asking the questions, but he needed to know.  
Luke shrugged. "Maybe she was afraid of ruining my life... didn't want to hurt my career... I don't know."  
"Jess, listen," Luke went on. "I need you to help her out. You, more than anyone, should understand what it's like to come here and not want to be here."  
"But, I came back because I wanted... remember?" Jess pointed out.  
"Yeah, but Jess, we both know you didn't want to be here for the longest time," Luke told him. "Anyways, just... help her out anyway you see fit, ok?"  
Jess shook his head. "Why should I?"  
Luke sighed. "Because she's family Jess."  
"It's not like she's my sister or anything!" Jess went on.  
"No," Luke agreed. "But she is your cousin."  
Jess sat down with a sigh. "She is, isn't she?"  
Luke nodded. "Anyways, listen, I'm going to go upstairs and talk with her a bit... why don't you come meet her?"  
Jess shook his head. "I think I'm going to go for a walk."  
"OK," Luke said and got up. When he reached the doorway, he turned around to see Jess just about to close the door.  
"She already knows," he called out.  
"What?" Jess asked.  
"Rory... she already knows about Cassidy," Luke told him.  
Without commenting, Jess closed the door, and Luke went upstairs.

"Hey Cassidy," Luke said after he opened the door to the apartment and saw his daughter sitting on the couch.  
"Hey," she replied without looking away from the tv.  
"Well, that was a nice welcome," Luke said sarcastically as he sat down.  
Cassidy laughed. "Sorry, but the Cubs are playing!" She still hadn't looked away from the television screen.  
Luke groaned. "The Cubs! They're worse than the Toronto Blue Jays!"  
"Wow, wow, wow," Cassidy said, throwing him a ready-to-kill look.  
"OK, maybe that's over-doing it a bit..." Luke said, and laughed. "Who's winning?"  
"The Cubs," Cassidy told him. "It's 4 to 1 in the beginning of the sixth inning."  
"Who are they playing?" He asked.  
"The Atlanta Braves," Cassidy replied.  
"Good team," Luke stated  
Cassidy laughed. "Not tonight, they aren't. Maddux has let two homeruns happen already!"  
"Yikes!" Luke said, laughing again. "Maybe I should cheer for the Cubs tonight...."  
"Of course you should," Cassidy told him.  
"Go Cubs!" Luke shouted. With that, both fell back on the couch laughing.  
When the game ended, Luke stood up and shook his head.  
"What?" Cassidy asked, standing up.  
Luke laughed. "We have more in common than I thought."  
Cassidy shrugged. "I guess we do."

_Copyright ©2002_


End file.
